So, most of us are beyond those first akward stages of puberty (though they seem to follow us later into life) but I found something very interesting about the time of development and the effects that timing has on adolescents. Pretty generally, if you develop around the average time of your peers, you do experience some of the really positive or the really negative aspects that come along with early development. What really is interesting is that there seems to be a dichotomy in which boys are getting the benefits and girls are getting the setbacks.
Boys who develop early are seen as the big man on campus pretty much. They show improved academic achievement, better social skills, more emotional control, and are found in more leadership positions. Though there was a study showing that some of these early-developers are more likely to engage in deliquient behavior such as smoking or drinking, early-developing boys live a pretty nice life on average.
The story is the complete opposite for early-developing girls. These girls are reported to have lower academic achievement, less self-confidence and self-esteem, fewer social skills and less peer acceptance. Also, early developing girls are reported to engage in more deliquent behavior and more likely to be sexually promiscuous.
So why is it that boys are getting the better deal. Well, looking at development, boys seem to have what society seems as positive enhanced and girls seem to have what society views as negative enhanced. Boys' shoulders broaden and become more muscular and girls' hips widen and gain a larger portion of fat. Though girls fat gain is natural, because society sees fat in such a negative light, this has actually led to girls' lower self-esteem (not to mention eating disorders). So again it seems that society favors boys in this aspect and leaves girls in a very precarious position.
